Eatonville Shows Off For Chinese Mayors

September 23, 1986|By Dianne Selditch of The Sentinel Staff

EATONVILLE — Four Chinese mayors who are winding up a tour of American cities visited Eatonville on Monday. They signed autographs for schoolchildren, ate black- eyed peas and corn bread and asked dozens of questions about the fire department and water system.

The men represent more than 10 million people who live in Nanning, Nantong, Hohhot and Yangi in the People's Republic of China.

The Chinese mayors are visiting the United States at the invitation of the National Conference of Black Mayors. During their visit to Hungerford Elementary School they told the youngsters to study hard and visit China someday.

The school trip was among dozens of visits they have made to factories, colleges, downtown districts and public works departments. In three weeks they have visited East Orange, N.J.; Washington, D.C.; Gifford, Lincolnville, Carlisle and Eastover, S.C.; Tuskegee, Ala.; Atlanta; and Rosedale and Mound Bayou, Miss.

Eatonville, the oldest black incorporated town in the country, lies between Winter Park and Maitland west of U.S. Highway 17-92. Mayor Abraham Gordon, an officer in the mayors group, showed his visitors the town swimming pool, the fire station and an industrial park west of Interstate 4. They ate ribs at Lee's II Restaurant and attended a reception at Mr. B's, a nightclub.

Even though they head much larger communities, the mayors said visits to small American towns were useful because China still is in early stages of technological development. The Chinese were fascinated by the town's water pump and huddled around an extinguisher from a fire truck and asked about chemicals used to put out fires.

Mayor Unita Blackwell of Mayersville, Miss., an officer in the mayors group, said she organized the exchange trips in 1984 so that mayors, who are the elected officials closest to the people, could start talking. Economic development is a motive, but ''they have to get to know one another'' first, said Blackwell who has been to China 14 times.

One-on-one contacts help ease differences in how Americans and Asians do business, she said. They also encourage the formation of sister cities and ''out of sister cities comes business.''

Because a quarter of the world's population lives in China, the Chinese mayors said their country must become more involved in world affairs.

The delegates said they were impressed with American friendliness, extensive highway systems, technology, communications and large woods.

Aided by their interpreter, Ye Maozhen, two of the mayors noted how an American city can make life convenient by extending services to homes and businesses. However, Mayor Zhang Youcai of Nantong said that U.S. agricultural and irrigation methods were not as efficient as those in China.

He also said that certain Chinese management practices that give workers a lot of say in policy-making was better than the hierarchical system he saw here.